Devil's Factory
by Marvelous Monchichi
Summary: Four travelers, presumably dead, arrive in Konoha, drawing Sakura and her friends into a flaming conflict in a faroff land.
1. Chapter 1

**First fic.. ever. Please don't flame me. I've never been flamed before but it doesn't sound very fun. Constructive criticism won't hurt my feelings.. I hope. **

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_Geez! How did I get stuck here? _thought a pink haired girl in the middle of a bustling crowd. 14-year old Sakura was in the middle of a busy shopping center. Usually, this would make any girl, including Sakura herself, start squealing and grabbing every article of clothing in sight. Sakura's shopping partner, a brown haired girl with her hair is two buns, on the other hand, was very excited about something completely different.

Perhaps it would be wise to go back 30 minutes?

Sakura had just finished her training session with Tsunade. It had unfortunately not gone well. After having depleted her entire supply of chakra getting a half-dead gecko to wiggle, Tsunade had taught her a technique she didn't need, how to waste perfectly melded chakra. Tsunade, had given her instructions to detonate her chakra out of a closed fist repeatedly for an hour a day for the next week before AND after every training session! What a waste of time. That's why she eagerly agreed to go shopping with the first girl who asked, a.k.a. Tenten. Actually, instead of looking at clothing or jewelry or something interesting like that, Tenten had insisted at looking at different types of weapons. She had dragged Sakura to at least a bazillion different shops comparing shuriken's prices. Sakura was going to lie down and die if she had to listen to one more second of this.

"Oooh! Sakura, look at the quality of this shuriken! This quality is extremely rare since Fudaraku stopped production last year," Tenten commented happily, "Oh, but the price is off the charts. I'm sorry, I can't buy it."

"WHA-AT? Did you just come to ogle at my stuff and not buy ANYTHING?" asked the shopkeeper, who was either a boy with bad fashion sense or a girl with worse fashion sense. Sakura spent a few minutes staring and finally ascertained it was a girl... probably. Sakura sighed. This was hardly a shop at all. It was more like a stand. Apparently, three traders had shown up in Konoha and set up a cardboard box with a tray. Still, Tenten said the quality was good and she wasn't often wrong about these things.

"If you could knock off a couple ryo, I might be able to afford it," Tenten said.

"Forget it!" The shopkeeper screamed. Sakura winced, the voice was so awful. It was like listening to a chicken being strangled. Of course, her face wasn't much to look at, and that hair looked like it didn't know the meaning of conditioner.

"Well, then I'll just go elsewhere," Tenten said, turning around.

"Wait! I need that money!" The girl screeched, leaning out of the stand and grabbing at Tenten, who quickly stepped backward out of the reach of that weirdo. Meanwhile, Sakura had noticed that somebody was watching them. She had felt it for a while, but she had finally located the stalkers. Whoever it was concealed themselves well. A man wearing a trenchcoat backwards, his hands in his pockets to avoid notice, wearing an anbu mask on the back of his head and a hat concealing all but his eyes.

_Clever, but not clever enough for me. Tee hee. _Sakura chuckled inwardly to herself. _Now, I just have to figure out if they're watching us or someone else... But how?_

"Come on, Sakura. I have the shuriken I wanted," Tenten said, cheerfully. The poor black-haired shopkeeper grimaced at her. "I have another shop I want to check!"

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_Darnit. I lost him. I have to figure out who that stalker was, but it's probably impossible now. I'll never find him again... _Sakura and Tenten were standing in a nearly empty shop. The shopkeeper in question was arguing with two boys, or at least one of them. The one arguing looked amazingly calm even though the shopkeeper was looking quite flustered. He had flowing green hair and was wearing a net undershirt with a vest and flowy pants. The second had blond hair, rather long for a boy's. He wore blue-gray pants and shirt. He also wore a cloth around his mouth even though there shouldn't be any pollens out. Apparently, the two of them were selling a bundle of various weapons. Tenten was hovering around interestedly, advising the shopkeeper to accept their offer, only making him more flustered. Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura noticed some sort of genjutsu on the window. Someone had cast some jutsu to show a picture through the window that didn't include the casters of that particular jutsu.

_Hmm... more stalkers. But this person should be easier to identify unless they're also wearing a disguise outside the window as well._ Slowly, Sakura gravitated towards the door. Then, casually as she could, she opened the door and walked out. Looking in through the window was... a leaf jounin? A young man wearing goggles and a jacket. In fact, Sakura had seen this man before...

"Mr. Aoba?" The man in question quickly looked up at her.

"Oh.. uh.. Sakura. Right now I'm busy," Aoba said, glancing at the window to check on the duo of strangers.

"Mr. Aoba, you're spying on those two boys aren't you?" No response.

"They're two of the traders who came in today?" Still no response.

"So that other man was watching the shopkeeper." Aoba kept ignoring her. Sakura glared for a minute or two when she had an idea.

"Kai." Aoba instantly grabbed her and pulled her down.

"Are you insane? Those two people are using fake passports to enter Konoha! They're obviously after something!" There was a reason Aoba never became a Jounin.

"Is Tsunade informed about this?"

"Well... Um.. no. Genma didn't think it was important."

"Genma was the other man, right?"

"I'm not saying anything."

"If these people are Orochimaru's spies, then Tsunade must be informed!"

"I didn't think of that.."

"Orochimaru?" Both Sakura and Aoba nearly jumped out of their skin, "Do you know where he is?" The green haired guy was standing right behind them with that strangely calm expression of his. Aoba pulled a kunhai and pointed it at the guy.

"You better tell us what you're up to! You and your two companions," Aoba demanded.

"I don't have to say anything, royalty is permitted to remain silent in court-"

"We know that's a lie!" Aoba said, frantically.

"Hmmm. That's too bad," the boy said, frowning, "What if I didn't say anything because I didn't want to?"

"Then I'll.. I'll take you to Tsunade!"

"Not talking."

"Ikamaru, what ARE you doing to the commoners?" The blond boy walked out of the shop with a wad of bills in his hand.

"I told you already, drop the charade!" Aoba said, pointing his kunhai at the blondie instead.

"You didn't already tell him," Ikamaru said, matter-of-factly.

It was only a matter of time. Aoba snapped. After throwing the two boys into the scariest cell in the prison for "talking back to a police officer" and handing them a rant or two, he decided to bring up the case with Tsunade. Sakura followed because she really didn't want to tromp around town any more with Tenten.

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"Oh my? Two, no three, intruders who won't state either their true names or businesses?" Tsunade asked, leaning on her desk, fingers intertwined.

"That's right! All three of them are using passports of people who are already dead! Konoha ANBU report that the entire royal family of Fuduraku along with the most supporting courtiers were all executed by the rebels nearly half a year ago!" Aoba said, slamming his hands on the desk.

"Maybe, they're three of the rebel leaders trying to pass themselves off as the actual rulers and establish themselves with the consent of the rebels who already know who they are!" Shizune said, stroking her pig.

"I don't think common factory workers could think that up themselves. I've been there before and they're all rather earthy people," Tsunade said, concentrating deeply.

"Maybe three of them escaped execution," Sakura said.

"Why wouldn't they have asked for help sooner?" Aoba demanded.

"Why don't we ask them?" Tsunade smiled.

"They'll just tell us a whole bunch of lies," Aoba said. This discussion was never finished because the door slammed open and Genma strode in, wiping his muddy boots on Shizune's beloved carpet. He was carrying a bag over his shoulder of something very full and very alive. The only thing visible outside the bag were two thrashing legs. Genma was looking pretty smug. Tsunade stood up very quickly.

"What is that?" She demanded.

"That better not be a woman you're carrying like that," Shizune warned.

"Well, it's hard to tell what gender it is," KICK "But I do believe that it is a dangerous criminal."

"Put her down now," Tsunade said, resignedly. Genma dropped the bundle and out toppled the shopkeeper girl from earlier. She was kicking her legs and screaming. She shook her head very angrily causing her black hair to flop every which way.

"You Konoha people are SO MEAN!" The girl screamed, throwing her tantrum.

"She tried to kill me with one of those kunhai she was selling!" Genma said, pointing at the tantruming child on the floor. This was met by more outraged howls and many pounding of the legs and arms on the floor.

"It slipped! How many times do I have to tell you!" The girl screamed.

"This passport here says your name is Mogura," Shizune said like a kindly police officer.

"The passports are all lying! The REAL Mogura disappeared when the revolutionaries broke the castle wall!" Aoba insisted.

"I'm telling you, she tried to knife me," Genma said, matter-of-factly.

"DID NOT!"

"Shut up, Genma, can't you see it's upsetting her?"

"Shizune! That person is the ENEMY!"

"Aoba, can't you see she's distraught?"

"I'M NOT DISTRAUGHT!"

"I'm taking her to the slammer now.."

"Put her down, Genma!"

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" Tsunade screamed. Everyone acted accordingly.

"Tsunade will now pass judgement!" Shizune said, cheerfully.

"First, I've got to ask her some questions. Your name is Mogura, right?"

"sniff yes."

"And you left Fudaraku because of an attack to come here directly to ask for help?"

"sniff yes."

"Half a year ago?"

"I KNEW IT! SHE LIES!" Aoba cried out.

"Time out! What's going on here? What's Fudaraku?" Sakura yelled.

"Oh, Sakura. You're still here? I guess Mogura here can explain," Tsunade said. Mogura shook her head. Tsunade continued:

"Well then. I will. Fudaraku was founded before I was born by a man who wished to be like the model of a philospher-king. Unfortunately, things got out of hand. Fudaraku was made a factory with a castle right in the middle of a cloud of smog and waste. Fudaraku is Konoha's chief provider of weapons. It was our main supplier during the most recent ninja war. For that reason, Konoha is very interested in the upholding of Fudaraku. Unfortunately, almost directly after Orochimaru's failed attempt on the destruction of Konoha, it had a revolt. The castle in the middle was completely overrun and in that invasion the only people who survived were the king, queen, their first of their three daughters, and only the weakest courtiers. The king and queen were executed in the same month, and the oldest princess is presumably dead."

"I didn't die," the pain-in-the-toe girl sitting on the floor said, stubbornly, "And neither did Ikamaru or Surgeon."

"Do you mean Rintaro Ishioku? He's presently in prison with Ikamaru Surume," Tsunade said, glancing at Aoba.

"For disturbing the peace." Aoba said, importantly.

"So, back to the previous subject. Where have you been for half a year?" The black haired girl scuffed her foot on the floor for a while.

"Here and there."

"That's a lie." Genma said, "No ninja would fall for that."

"Weeeeeeeell... I've been quite a couple places."

"Why?"

"Looking.."

"For what?"

"A person.."

"Who?"

"Just.."

"Just?"

"Nobody in particular."

"Aha! She was looking for Orochimaru!"

"WHAT? No I wasn't! I was.. um.. Ikamaru was. HE MADE ME!" Mogura collapsed into tears at Shizune's feet.

"Oh! Tsk tsk. Poor thing. Genma you made her cry!"

"She was looking for Orochimaru," Genma said defensively, pointing at the sobbing mass of girl.

"That's true. We were," the green-haired boy said, waltzing in followed by his comrade.

"You are Ikamaru Surume and your comrade is Rintaro Ish-"

"They know their own names, stupid," Mogura shouted.

"That is true. I am Ikamaru and this is Rintaro, but we prefer calling him Surgeon," the green-haired boy said politely as his comrade nodded.

"That's his job y'see," Mogura said.

"Weren't you just crying a second ago?"

Ikamaru cleared his throat. "It's true that we were looking for Orochimaru, but that was only because he was the strongest of the Legendary Three. We never did manage to find him, though."

"I told you we should have went straight to Tsunade," Surgeon commented.

"I still think we should head straight out to Jiraiya," Mogura said, contemptuosly, "This person looks weak."

"Tsunade-sama is not weak! She's the Hokage," Shizune said, boisterously.

"I don't approve of this conversation. If you're going to argue over who is the strongest ninja out of the Legendary Three, you can do it elsewhere," Tsunade said, a little annoyed by Mogura's comment.

"Yeah, but we can't seem to find either Jiraiya or Orochimaru, so you're going to have to do," Ikamaru said, placing the money he got selling weapons on the table, "We need the strongest ninja in Konoha to forcibly retake Fudaraku."

"You must be kidding. Even if we did reestablish you, the rabble would just turn you over again. It would be best if you just gave up," Shizune said.

"That's not what I believe. There are maybe ten men at the head of the revolt, most of which were courtiers. Not only that, but Fudaraku is planning to continue production soon. At that time, the people will realize that they didn't get out of work by overturning us, so they might as well have us in charge," Ikamaru explained.

"I'm afraid that Konoha is still rebuilding itself. We can't offer help beyond maybe a handful of genin-in-training at most." Tsunade said, looking at her charts, "But I could direct you to where Jiraiya is.. or was a month ago. It's hard to keep tabs on him. We'll send the ninja most suited for locating him."

"I'll go. I'll be able to help with the few healing techniques that I have, and I might be able to round up a couple people," Sakura offered.

"You look weak too," Mogura said, even more contemptuosly.

"Now Mogura, don't be rude. This maiden has graciously offered to assist us in our many misadventures, despite any dangers that our journey might entail," Surgeon said.

"That's true. Alright, miss, we'll be at the gates in one hour. Please, try and find as many as possible, despite any weaknesses they might have," Ikamaru said.

"Alright Sakura, but be careful and don't forget to practice every day on your journey and come back here in 30 minutes for mission debriefing," Tsunade said.

"Roger," Sakura said, walking out the door. _Now who would be most suited for this mission..._

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**Author's Krad: So.. Now that you've read it, tell me what you think. Alright, I know Mogura and Ikamaru and Surgeon all came across as very lame characters. (I hope they're not Sus or Stus.) Please don't be too mean too them. They are all my beloved family.**

**Did I do something wrong with Aoba and Genma? Did Sakura act too OOC? I need the answers to all these questions and more, so review! review! review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy smile hello! I finally wrote the next chapter. So read and review. Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top. And again, please don't flame me. I don't think my feeble mind could take it.**

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Tsunade sat at her desk nodding approvingly. She was facing four young girls, who were all standing at attention. Shizune stood behind her, still stroking that pig of hers. From the left, there was a navy haired girl with seemingly no pupils and a humongous jacket, a girl with a dark complexion and dark hair pulled into two chinese buns, a blonde girl with a short ponytail and an enormous forelock, and, of course, Sakura, standing at the very end.

"Hinata, Tenten, and Ino, eh? No boys.. but that's probably fitting for this mission," Tsunade said, nodding.

"Um.. excuse me? Sakura said we were going to reestablish a kingdom," Tenten said, hopefully.

"Well.. That's a little complicated. Apparently, three people with.. well.. questionable mental capabilities, arrived in Konoha claiming to be royalty, but without enough money to buy a C-ranked mission. I've sorted this out to two possibilites. Either these people are.. handicapped in certain areas.. or they're exceedingly clever. In both cases, you four need to pretend you're taking them to Jiraiya while actually leading them to a friend of mine who runs an.. establishment for such people. If they actually do have ulterior motives, you'll be able to tell almost immediately. They might have some extremely dangerous mission, but lack the funds to pay for it. They might try and persuade you to help them with whatever this is, because they probably believe they're getting full support from Konoha. If that's the case, escape back to Konoha when you find out the ulterior motive and tell me about it. If it's dangerous but worthy, I'll send some Jounin I have sitting around somewhere. Yes, I DO have Jounin around. I just didn't tell them because of the measure of this mission. If it's dangerous, but not worthy, we'll have already taken away all aid. If it's a crime or war-mongering of some sort, I'll send Jounin to crush them immediately. Sakura, do you understand all this?"

"Yes. I understand completely," Sakura said, a little peeved at falling for the ridiculous story hook, line, and sinker.

"Good. Then you'll be team leader." Tsunade then explained to Sakura where the asylum was and how to get there and gave them a few last minute tips and finally told them to get going.

The procession was slightly more glum going out.

"Th-this sounds dangerous," Hinata said, quietly.

"Ah man! I wanted to reestablish royalty and then be celebrated and heralded as a hero and maybe get to know a handsome prince better and-" Tenten went on and on this way for some time. Sakura didn't say anything, being too deep in thought.

"I think this is stupid. Sakura, you should have gotten the low-down on the mission before you told me about it. Talking about two gorgeous guys and three beautiful princesses with long golden tresses was misleading!" Ino said, sulkily.

"I didn't say a THING about gorgeousness or golden tresses or anything! I just said a princess with two sisters and her bodyguards," Sakura said, angrily.

"Actually, we're not her bodyguards. It's quite the opposite really. She's a bodyguard WITH us." Sakura whirled around to see Ikamaru, grinning away right behind her. Ino seemed lost in her own little world, staring deep into Ikamaru's eyes. The ones that weren't looking at her.

"Heh. Well, I am beautiful, even if the golden part isn't exactly accurate," Mogura said beaming. Ino looked slightly repulsed. The entire world with her and Ikamaru had been blown to high heaven by the arrival of this freak.

"I'm glad you finally showed up. We've been waiting here for 2.47 minutes longer than was originally decided," the Surgeon said. He had been previously been staring at the sky and Sakura wondered how he could tell what time it was to the second from just the sun. Or was he looking at something else? It was hard to tell.

"Hey! It's that gorgeous guy from the shop earlier," Tenten said delightedly, "You seemed to know a lot about weapons!"

"Oh no. Not really. I can hardly fight at all," Ikamaru said, smiling demurely.

"Is that so? I wonder why someone so unexperienced when it comes to weapons would carry TEN in his sleeves," Tenten said, smiling innocently.

"As a bodyguard, I think it would be expected to have at least a couple weapons on hand," Ikamaru said, still smiling right back.

"Yes, but ten kunai hidden in your sleeves is a bit much," Tenten replied.

"Ahahaha... Not really Tenten. You shouldn't be talking since you have weapons hidden in all sorts of places on you," Sakura said, laughing strenuously. She had sensed that the two weren't striking it off very well, and that Ikamaru was definitely trying to hide something.

"But actually I-" Tenten started to reply but Hinata cut her off by screaming (as quietly as she does everything though..)

"R-REMEMBER THE MISSION!" Sakura hoped that that remark sounded like "Remember we're trying to help them, not fight them," rather than "DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING!" to the newcomers.

Awkward silence.

"Well, let's be on our way then," Sakura said, "We'll lead you to Jiraiya and see if we can get aid from him. Then we'll continue on our way."

"Oh!" Mogura exclaimed, "First we need to go someplace!" Ikamaru clapped a hand over her mouth.

"What she's trying to say is we have something to pick up at Sunshine Inn, just south of Konoha. Just two day's walk from here, and if we move quickly we can be there before sundown."

"But that's in the completely wrong direction. Jiraiya is Northeast of here." Sakura said, suspiciously.

"This is very important. What's four days more?" Ikamaru asked, smoothly. There was something about that guy's way of talking that Sakura detested. She didn't trust him a bit but she couldn't let him know that.

"Hmm.. I'll need to talk to the cell about this. Give us a minute." Sakura led the other three away until they couldn't even see the three intruders.

"Hinata. Activate the Byakugan and make sure no one spies on us," Sakura commanded. Hinata did so.

"There's a timid-looking man in this house but he's on the second floor," Hinata said.

"Then that should be all right." Sakura said.

"What'll we do? Now we're certain that they have an ulterior motive!" Ino said, worriedly.

"We'll risk it of course! We're definitely strong enough to fight off those three if they try and force us to do something and if they try persuading us gently we can just refuse," Tenten said.

"What if they have reinforcements waiting there? We'll probably be overpowered. After all, not a single one of us made it past the chuunin exam preliminaries! Remember that when making your decision, Sakura," Ino said. Sakura bit her lip in thought.

"We'll have to do it. It's dangerous, but we're ninja, right? But make sure NOT to slip up!" Ino and Tenten nodded. Hinata squeaked.

"Ikamaru's coming!"

"Have you made your decision?" he called.

"Yes. We're going to do it. Tsunade didn't give us permission to, but what harm can it be?" Sakura said, already getting into her role.

"Good. Well, if you're ready, then can we go?" Ikamaru called.

"Coming!" Sakura led the other three back quickly.

"Let's go then. Open the gates," Mogura commanded. Ikamaru pushed one of them open and cordially held it back as the girls exited. It wasn't neccessary since the gate wouldn't have swung back anyway, but he was probably trying to make an impression. Sakura sniggerd inwardly. _It's not going to work!_

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It was twilight and they were still only halfway there. Surgeon and Ikamaru were setting up makeshift tents while the girls went and washed up.

"So.. Um.. Mogura.. What's it like in Fudaraku?" Ino asked, nervously. She still hadn't gotten over the shock of Mogura's lack of stunning beauty. To her, it just proved that Mogura was lying.

"It's a mess. The rebels, remember, stupid?"

"No! I meant what WAS it like? I know what it's like now!"

"It was.. okay.. I guess. It was boring. Courtiers sitting around playing chess and stinky, sweaty workers dying here and there... and stuff." Ino was shocked by the extremely calm way Mogura said this.

"What? Why?"

"Duh! When you make weapons you need to work iron and to work iron you've got to make everything hot, and workers would be stupid enough to sear off their legs or arms or something while pouring molten iron into casts." The way she said it reminded Ino of someone explaining math to a five-year-old. Ino was getting freaked out quickly. It was most certainly true this person was insane even if her friends had some sort of ulterior motive. That Ikamaru guy was hot.. but it always seemed like he was telling lies, or at least not the whole truth.

"But wasn't anybody sad? People dying usually is," Ino said, frantically. Mogura stared at her blankly.

"Um.. Well. I guess. Maybe.. Probably.. Not.. No.. Um.. well.. should they?"

"Well yes! Haven't you ever seen somebody die?" Mogura was silent for a while.

"Yes. I did. And _you_ didn't." Ino, seeing this was true, quieted herself. It was true. No one she knew had ever died. Maybe that's how everyone reacted to death. How should she know?

"If you're a ninja, you're going to see a lot of people die. If this is how you react to death, maybe you should try a new occupation. Judging by your reaction to Ikamaru, have you considered prostitute?" Mogura sniggered. Ino stopped feeling sorry for this person immediately. _WHAT A JERK!_

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It was dark and everyone sat around the campfire. Everyone was roasting something Tenten had killed. Only heaven knows what. Ino was huffily roasting her meat for a few seconds and then stuffing it into her mouth. Surgeon was looking slightly repulsed at the rawness of everybody else's meat while burning his until it tasted like paper. Tenten was looking extremely proud.

"Has anyone besides me considered the possible diseases this meat could carry?" Surgeon said, reaching into the fire and selecting a red hot stone, with which he began scraping the black crud off his meat. All four Konoha kuonichi wondered why Surgeon was not at all bothered by the heat of the stone, yet Ikamaru and Mogura didn't give it much thought.

"There'll only be a little while more to go in the morning. As for me, I'm hitting the hay," Ikamaru said, getting up, popping the last of his meat into his mouth and walking off to one of the tents.

"Keh keh keh. Don't you want to go with him, Little Miss Piggy," Mogura asked, leaning over to Ino.

"SHUT UP!" Ino yelled, grabbing Surgeon's disgustingly burnt meat and shoving it into Mogura's mouth.

"Good show. I can never get her to eat my cooking," Surgeon said, clapping as Mogura gagged.

"I'm going to get a drink of water and then I'm going to bed!" Mogura squealed and then walked towards the stream.

"We have a long way to go tomorrow, so I propose we all get some sleep," Surgeon said, walking over to a tent, even though he hadn't eaten anything yet.

"That's a good idea. I'm going to sleep too," Hinata said, timidly. She got up and started to walk towards the tents but then a weird expression came over her face.

"Is there something wrong Hinata?" Tenten asked.

"Th-there are only two tents. One has Ikamaru in it and the other has Surgeon in it," Hinata said, nervously. The other three whirled around and lo and behold it was true.

"Those jerks..." Sakura fumed.

So in the end, all four of them hit the hay more literally than Ikamaru had and slept on the most comfortable ground they could find.

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**Author's Krad: Alright. That was it. The second chapter. What do you think? If you have anything to tell me about this story like if it's too inconsistent, there's no continuity, the characters are unbelievable and undeveloped, or you think the entire thing is stupid, tell me. I'd also appreciate it if you said some nice things too. REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm putting up another chapter now to all my non-existant fans! ... Does no one like my story? Am I just not good at writing at all? Should I have written a better summary? Please review! You're making me sad here.**

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"How much farther to Sunshine Inn?" Sakura asked Ikamaru. Ikamaru didn't reply.

"Sunshine Inn is approximately four miles from here. We'll be there within the day," Surgeon said, looking at a map.

"S-Sakura.." That was Hinata, tugging on Sakura's sleeve.

"What is it Hinata?" Sakura asked, exasperatedly.

"There's somebody following us," Hinata whispered. Sakura snapped to attention.

"Is it a ninja?"

"He's wearing a rock headband."

"Where is he?"

"Ten meters behind us to our right."

"Do you think you could hit him with a kunai?"

"M-maybe."

"Alright. Here's the plan: You throw a kunai in his direction, then using that approximation, Tenten will let loose a barrage of weapons. You go tell her that, got it?"

"O-okay."

"WAZZUP?" Mogura cheerily bursted in onto their conversation, startling Hinata.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked, flustered.

"Well, Ino told me to go away because I was bothering her, and Tenten heartily agreed, and Surgeon said he was busy, and Ikamaru would probably yell at me or something, so I came to hang with you guys," Mogura said, loudly.

"Stop bothering people. Can't you walk without talking to people?" Surgeon asked, without looking up.

"S-Sakura.." That was Hinata.

"Oh, shaddup. I'm BO-ORED with just walking," Mogura said.

"S-Sakura.."

"You should try being more polite and quiet when you approach," Surgeon said.

"S-Sakura.."

"Blah Blah Blah and one more Blah. You're always bugging me, Surgeon. How I roll is none of your business," Mogura said.

"S-Sakura!"

"Yes, Hinata?" Sakura asked, turning to her.

"He's gone. I looked back and I saw him getting closer, but then he ran ahead of us and now I can't see him anymore!"

"What's that?" Ikamaru said, stopping in front of them.

"Um.." Sakura tried to think of what to say. How much had he heard?

"There was somebody following us and you let him get away? What kind of ninjas are you?" Ikamaru asked.

"Ah..." Sakura stalled. If he had heard everything, then what? What was his game, anyway? What side was he on?

"We've got to make better time. Starting now, we're going to go at a run," Ikamaru said. In a flash, all four Konoha ninjas were up in the treetops. If there was anything they were good at, it was leaping through trees.

"What are you doing up there?" Surgeon called.

"Making better time. Ninjas work better away from paths," Sakura explained.

"We're not monkeys," Mogura said, contemptuously. Hinata slowly climbed down.

"Those snobs! Who do they think we are?" Tenten said, fuming. Sakura sighed.

"It's useless to argue. I've been jogging for a couple weeks now. I think I'm fit enough to run," Sakura said, climbing out of the tree. Tenten and Ino looked at each other for a while and then climbed down. A few minutes later, the four Konoha ninjas were jogging slowly, but not yet moving as slowly as their three clients. Mogura was huffing and puffing and leaning against a tree, Surgeon was jogging extremely slowly, and Ikamaru, for all his big talk, was walking.

"Start hustling, you wimps!" Ino shouted.

"I.. can't.. go on.." Mogura said, breathing heavily.

"You were running with everything you had a minute ago," Tenten said, turning around to look at her.

"Well, running with everything usually tires you out quickly," Mogura snapped.

"Come now, we can't stand around taking breaks. We need to make better time," Ikamaru said, clapping his hands together sharply.

"I feel quite fit now. I'll change to walking for the rest of the trip," Surgeon said, changing to a walk which was faster than his jog. Sakura sighed. Were they trying to lull her into a false sense of security with this stupid act? Well, she wasn't going to fall for it.

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"So why do you wear that mask all the time?" Ino asked Surgeon, walking in pace with him.

"To keep out infectious microbes naturally," Surgeon said, "Why don't you?"

"Um.. well.. In Konoha, the air is especially clean," Ino said, nervously. A mask like that could totally ruin her image.

"That makes sense I guess. Still, public facilities are often germy. You should always take care to wear a mask and bring gloves along when going out somewhere," Surgeon said. He might have been smiling, but the mask made it impossible to tell.

"Ha ha. I'll remember that," Ino said. _Yeah right. The only time I would dream of wearing that is when I'm not in public._

Tenten, on the other hand, was busy talking with Ikamaru.

"Why do you keep weapons in your sleeves?" Tenten asked.

"To kill flies," Ikamaru said, smiling. Tenten and Ikamaru laughed for a while.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What's the REAL reason you keep those weapons up your sleeves?"

"That's it."

"WHAT'S it?"

"To kill flies."

"Ha ha. That's funny, but if you hire us, you have to be willing to tell us about yourself," Tenten said, annoyed.

"Come now. Don't you agree that flyswatters are uneffective? You could hop around your house for hours trying to kill one fly before you gave up," Ikamaru explained.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Tenten asked, deciding it was wisest to change the subject.

"I've killed flies."

Thus ended the conversation between Tenten and Ikamaru.

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"Well, here we are." Ikamaru said, gesturing to a quaint little place with several windows and apparently two floors. A certain air of homeliness floated around the place; a garden planted for people to walk through, cobblestones leading up to the front of the inn, even the sign depicting a sun hanging by two chains had a peaceful kind of look about it. The serenity of the forest about them was quite pleasant. Sakura thought that without her ninja training, she probably would have dropped her guard.

"It's as old hat as we left it," Mogura said, making a face.

"I do like the calming effect this place has on my nerves," Surgeon said, raising his hands as if he were soaking in as much as this "calming effect" as he could.

"Well the sooner we get the princess and split, the better," Ikamaru said, tensely.

"The princess? There's another princess?" Ino asked, disgustedly. A vision of a second Mogura popped into her mind.

"Well, duh. Why did you think we came all the way down here for?" Ikamaru said, picking up a rock, "By the way, Surgeon, which window was it again."

"Second from the right second floor." Whiz. Crack. Ikamaru sent the rock hurtling with amazing accuracy. Somebody came to the window, paused for a moment and then disappeared. For a second or two, nothing happened. Finally, the door swung open revealing an old man and a girl, around the age of seventeen. The old man wore clothes similar to Ikamaru and also had his messy hair, although it was gray. His forehead was bent with countless wrinkles and his hands curled uncomfortably. The girl was young and smooth, but her gaze was vacant, and as she stared at the four Konoha ninja, it seemed more like she was gazing at something miles and miles away on the horizon. She wore a pink top and pink travelling pants, topped off by having her long, gorgeous brown hair tied near the top with a pink ponytail.

"Ah! Ikamaru, my boy! Pleasure to see you again," the old man said joyously, hobbling over to the group.

"Hey gramps! We got the ninja," Mogura said, punching Sakura in the arm. Sakura winced. The old man looked around excitedly for a while and then, spotting the four girls, his face fell.

"Is that all?"

"Is what all?" Ikamaru asked.

"You were supposed to bring an army," The old man said, sadly.

"Now, Mr. Umimaru, you must see that sending Ikamaru and Mogura actually count as negative support and therefore make Lady Tsunade less trustful of us," Surgeon said, matter-of-factly.

"Ah, stuff it, old bag." Mogura said, messing with the inside of her ear using her pinky finger, "Your face ain't too beautiful either."

"I'm not talking looks here, but in that area, you are also incompetent."

"Bah! All girls care about is beauty!"

"Geez, Mogura, don't tell me you also have boy's sexism too," Ikamaru said, butting in. Umimaru cleared his throat and Ikamaru, for the first time, ceased to smile.

"That's quite enough of that," Umimaru said. Ikamaru stared blankly for a while, and then resumed his smile.

"Ex-excuse me. Is she the princess?" Hinata asked gesturing towards the young lady, who had been silent for some time.

"Ah yes! I had nearly forgotten about you four. I'm Umimaru," the old man said kindly, shaking Hinata's hand.

"And who is she?" Ino asked.

"Oh oh oh! Yes, I nearly forgot. Ha ha. That's the-" Umimaru paused to stare all around before cupping his hand to whisper, "princess of Fudaraku, Kagura."

"There shouldn't be any enemies around, old man, it's onl-" Ikamaru was saying but suddenly, silent as shadows, dozens of ninja popped out of bushes, dashing towards the group. One of the ninja, apparently the leader, clapped his hands together, forming a ninja sign, and then yelled,

"Fudaraku wants the princess alive, kill the rest!"

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**Author's Krad: Alright. That was it. PLEASE pleasepleasepleaseplease review! I'm going to lose all confidence and completely snap if I don't get any reviews! So, even if you don't have anything to say, just review to keep me going, knowing you care. (I... I hope you care at least...) I'm sorry if this is a little bit slow of coming but thank you to anyone who has read my story so far.**


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